


Bad Aim

by likesittinspoons



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-08-08 19:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7769971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likesittinspoons/pseuds/likesittinspoons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hanzo Shimada did not have a crush. He was no longer a teenager and had no time for such foolish things. He just thought the cowboy was a great guy. Yeah, that was it, simply a great guy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to add my little contribution to the fandom after seeing some of the amazing pieces of writing and fanart you've all produced, I hope you enjoy it! I should be updating the tags as the story progresses, at this point I'm still not entirely sure who exactly will be featured in it. The first chapter is short because I just wanted to explain what the situation in the fic was, other chapters will be longer. Also a huge thank you to my amazing friends Jo and Eth for helping me with ideas/doing beta reading for this!
> 
> My writing tumblr is likesittinspoons if you want to message me!

Of all the people you’d expect to find moping silently in their room, Hanzo Shimada would be fairly high up on the list. However, if the moping was induced by someone else (with whom he hadn't even interacted with in days), he'd be somewhere near the bottom of that list. That's why when Genji found his usually composed older brother slumped against the computer system installed in the corner of his room with a page full of agent records open, surprised may have been an understatement for his reaction to Hanzo’s state.

“Trying to find out who to avoid, huh?” He joked, making his presence be known to the man who had just been started out of his daze. “I promise you nobody here is dangerous. Well, to you at least.”

The joking was a front. Hanzo knew it and he knew that Genji did too. He knew that there was an actual reason for Hanzo scoping out information about his fellow agents. Part of their upbringing in a family with such a prestigious name lead to the brothers not being invasive for the sake of it. Yet when it was needed there were few people better for the job than the Shimada brothers. Which lead to the question, why did Hanzo feel a need to be looking up information about those who trusted him with their life in battle.

A quick glance at the screen gave Genji the answer he'd been looking for. Basic information and the ID photo of one Jesse McCree were staring back at him. It's not like Genji hadn't suspected Hanzo of being attracted to the man. While training was always at the forefront of his older brother’s mind during his later teenage years, Hanzo had actually experienced crushes and a relatively normal childhood until their mother had died. The behaviour was the same, the silent efforts to learn more about the person grabbing his interest without ever actually attempting to talk to that person in a way that would suggest something more.

“Gotta say brother, I did not have you down as being someone who had a thing for cowboys.” Genji teased, internally laughing as Hanzo whipped around with a glare that could pierce through a sheet of pure metal.

“I do not have a thing for anyone. I was simply researching my fellow agents.” Came the response, a bit too rushed for Hanzo’s usual speech. Another similarity Genji noted, truly a creature of habit.

“Uh-huh, and what’s so special about Jesse?” Hanzo’s mouth opened to protest but before he could say anything Genji’s hand was up to stop him in his tracks. “You're on the fifth page of information, the only thing you're gonna find that far through a file will be past mission information. What are you doing Hanzo? Like, what are you really doing?”

A defeated look flickered in Hanzo’s eyes, though only for a brief second Genji noticed it, and from the way that Hanzo seemed to subconsciously curl in on himself he’d noticed it too.

“The cowboy, he intrigues me. I do not know what it is about him, but there is something there that keeps me wondering about him and who he is exactly. I want to know more about him.”

Well, that was a lot closer to a confession than Genji was expecting. It was at that moment when Genji realised the scale of what was going on in his brother’s head. When teased about things such as love Hanzo would silence and push away anyone who made such a comment, yet here he was admitting to have an interest in the cowboy. Admittedly, he didn’t specify if it was romantic or not, but given Hanzo’s track record of the people who he actually showed an interest in over the years it either had to be that or someone who was important in terms of clan business. Clan business was no longer a concern, leaving romantic interest with the only possible option in Genji’s eyes.

The cyborg was quiet for a moment, silently going over his choice of words in his head to avoid frustrating Hanzo even further. “You’re friends with him though, I’ve seen you two talking on the transport between missions. Why not just ask him about himself and his past? You are more likely to get a honest and detailed response that way. I highly doubt the information public to all agents is the kind of detail you were looking for, brother.”

It wasn’t often that Genji found his brother struggling for words, ever the one to be prepared in any situation, yet if anyone was to be able to catch him off guard like this it’d be Genji. With a feeling of triumph Genji gave his brother a small smile before rushing to reassure him that it was okay, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about, it’s natural. Of course Hanzo was having none of this.

“There is no longer anyone left to please other than yourself.” Now that got Hanzo to stop babbling. Genji knew that the reason why Hanzo would be attempting to hide such feelings even from his own blood is because he was taught that it was bad to let yourself get distracted, that that’s how thing would go wrong in terms of clan business. It was one of the reasons why Hanzo believed he had to strike down Genji all those years ago. “Nobody is going to judge you for anything that you feel, brother. You only have to make yourself happy here, there’s nobody who’s depending on you to follow in their footsteps anymore.”

Silence followed as Hanzo let the words sink in. Genji did have a point, he was no longer under the rule of those who expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps. No longer were the expectations piled upon his shoulders until they became too much, even for him, the future leader of the clan. A defeated sigh came out of Hanzo’s mouth, followed by an unusually timid response from the man, so quiet that Genji almost didn’t hear it.

“But I don’t know what to do.” 

And there it was. Hanzo admitting that he had a crush and although not spoken aloud, telling his brother that he needed help. Genji always did have the upper hand over Hanzo when it came to things such as love and relationships in general, romantic or not. The freedom that Genji had been allowed while Hanzo was training to take over a criminal empire had lead to the younger of the two having a lot more skill when it came to talking to other people for his own personal reasons. Back when they were younger Genji had been a hit in terms of romantic talking too, usually (and not always purposefully) drawing the most attention out of his small friendship group due to his natural smooth talking. Hanzo was in the best hands possible given his current situation.

“So you need help talking to Jesse then?” 

“Yes, I need help talking to Jesse.”

“And you want me to help you?”

“And I want you to help me.”

“It would be an honour, brother.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Genji schemes, Hanzo is a mess, Jesse is confused and Angela is a saint.

When it came down to Genji giving others help, the results were often questionable. In his short time at Overwatch alone Hanzo had seen this happen enough times to be able to confirm it. Past instances from when they were younger didn't even need to be mentioned for a solid case against Genji to exist. Perhaps, Hanzo wondered, trusting Genji with such a huge task wasn't the best idea he's ever had.

Start off small and work your way up, that's what Genji’s first rule for ‘Operation Seduce the Cowboy’ had been. Rule two was not to question his naming techniques.

Small seemed to be manageable, something that Hanzo could deal with, but his idea of small seemed to be vastly different to Genji’s. Hanzo’s younger brother’s suggestions for his first move ranged from sending anonymous flowers to McCree’s room to ‘accidentally’ running into him in the hallway; it took Hanzo twenty minutes to convince Genji to drop both of those ideas, and another ten for them to reach the compromise of Hanzo sitting next to McCree during breakfast the next morning. 

Which is exactly where Hanzo found himself now, sat in the crowded kitchen and dining area of the base sandwiched between a cheery McCree and a dozing Hana, the latter of which he was fairly certain had fallen asleep mid bite of her toast.

Acquiring the seat hadn't been too hard thanks to Genji’s quick thinking (one of the only things Genji offered that he was thankful for, Hanzo noted). Genji had placed himself opposite McCree that morning and made sure that the seat next to him was occupied by someone's discarded blanket, leaving the only free seat close to Genji being the one next to McCree. Hanzo had to applaud Genji for that tactic, allowing him to successfully dodge the inevitable ‘So what brings you here, partner?’ that McCree was no doubt gonna ask had Genji not been present. In a weird way, having Genji there was also kind of comforting, almost like he had a safety net underneath him to fall back on if things got a bit too much for his liking.

No questions had been asked about Hanzo being around; it wasn’t as if he and McCree were strangers. He wouldn’t quite call their relationship friends, but they were definitely more than acquaintances. In fact it was hard to call anyone within Overwatch an acquaintance, given the close proximity in which everyone lived. Anyone looking on would think it was a normal sight to see, but Hanzo knew differently. He knew that he was a mess inside, and that the second that he opened his mouth, the calm and collected exterior that he managed to put on would vanish, leaving him a mess of jumbled thoughts and nervous mumbles. No sooner had Hanzo started getting used to the situation did Genji decide to kick Hanzo under the table to get his attention, promptly knocking him out of the calm that he’d surrounded himself with.

Looking up to glare at his brother and getting ready to question his actions, Hanzo was silenced by the look on Genji’s face, more specifically the words he was mouthing. While Hanzo wasn’t an expert lip-reader by any means, it didn’t take a fool to figure out that Genji was telling him to talk, start a conversation, just do anything other than sit and stare at his cereal. Momentary panic flooded through Hanzo as he realised that McCree was sitting opposite Genji and likely noticed the exchange, however, the American appeared to be too busy shovelling eggs into his mouth to notice his surroundings.  
Plucking up a small amount of courage Hanzo managed to collect his thoughts enough to mouth back to Genji, not entirely sure what the sentence was meant to be himself but knew it was something along the lines of ‘but what am I supposed to say?’. The question was met by a not-so-subtle face palm from Genji that finally prompted Jesse to look up from his mountain of eggs to look at the cyborg across from him.

“What’s troublin’ you, partner?” came the genuinely concerned response from Jesse. His accent seemed to be even more prominent in the mornings, the last bindings of sleep hanging to it and making the drawl drag on for longer than it needed to. And oh no, oh no, Hanzo knew that this would happen, he knew that they’d be caught in the middle of their plan. The panic started flooding through Hanzo’s veins yet again, fearing that any chance he had was over now. Caught red handed in the middle of a scheme, that wasn’t how any lasting relationship started. Yet much to Hanzo’s surprise, Genji pulled through again and contributed something helpful to their mission.

“I just burnt my toast on one side is all, I did not notice until now.” came the smooth reply, successfully dodging the metaphorical bullet that McCree fired along with that question, simultaneously bringing Hanzo’s heart rate back down to a somewhat normal pace. That was when a large smile spread across McCree face and before Hanzo could register what was happening, McCree was standing up and making an offhanded comment about how he needed more coffee anyway and would get Genji some toast that wasn’t burnt to a crisp while he was up. Hanzo took that as his opportunity to turn to Genji and question what he thought he was doing, only to be beaten to the same question by Genji himself.

“What was the point in doing this if you’re just going to sit there like a nervous wreck? The idea of this whole thing was for you to actually talk to Jesse and get to know him, but from over here it looks like the only thing you’re getting to know is your bowl of Shreddies since your eyes haven’t left them in five minutes.” 

As much as Hanzo would have loved to argue that he wasn’t transfixed on the bowl in front of him, he knew that Genji had a point. As soon as he’d sat down, Hanzo had stiffened up and gone into panic mode, and if it hadn’t been for the background noise of Lena, Lucio and Hana (while the latter was still awake, that is) joking around, he probably would have bolted a while back.

“Look Genji, I really do appreciate this, but this isn’t my ideal way of getting to know Jesse.” Hanzo admitted with a defeated sigh as he rose from the table and started gathering his used kitchenware. “Tell Jesse that I had a training room booked that I needed to get to. There is no point in me staying if no progress is going to be made.” 

And with that, Hanzo was walking across the kitchen to deposit his bowl on the counter, throwing a small wave to Mei, who’d taken it upon herself to do the clearing up for the morning, before he stalked out of the kitchen, likely to wallow helplessly in his room again Genji thought to himself as Jesse came back into view, and his mood was instantly brightened once again by the promise of unburnt toast.

\----------

Later that day, the halls of the Gibraltar base were subject to the heavy stomps that were a result of a rushing cowboy. The footsteps echoed as McCree jogged down the seemingly endless hallways until he reached the door to the medical bay, the one place in the base where he would be guaranteed to find one Angela Ziegler at any time of the day.

Jesse stopped outside the door and levelled his breathing before he decided to make his entrance, not really in the mood for yet another lecture from the resident doctor about how smoking is ruining his lungs. No, he thought, right now he needed to talk to Angela his friend, not Mercy the life saver. And boy did he need to talk to her.

Given the fact that Jesse and Angela joined Overwatch around the same time and that they had been the only teenagers on the team, they'd formed a bond over the years where they knew they could openly trust each other with anything without the fear of judgement or beratement. Because of this, Angela was always Jesse’s go to person if he needed help, advice or just a good talking to when his mind was in the wrong place. Back when they were young adults in their twenties Jesse had given romantic advice to Angela when she thought that a certain Genji Shimada had been flirting with her. Never did he see himself years later coming into her office asking for the same kind of advice for a situation revolving around none other than Genji’s brother. The world truly did work in strange ways. 

With a quiet knock to alert the other of his presence, McCree decided to go inside without waiting for a response, knowing that one, Angela wouldn’t be working on any patients as there hadn’t been a mission return home in a while, and two, if he waited outside the door any longer he’d probably turn and run.

A warm smile from the pristinely kept woman on the other side of the equally pristine room welcomed him.

“Jesse!” came the joyous voice of Angela upon noticing who’d entered her room. The joy was short lived, though, as her instincts as the ‘team mom’ began to kick in and she started to fuss over him. “You haven’t done anything to injure yourself have you? Did you damage your prosthetic?” 

A fond smile graced Jesse’s face as Angela scurried over to him from her seat at her desk. She always was a worrier and Jesse appreciated it greatly.

“Nah, nothin’ wrong with me this time Angie, just came for a good old chat is all.” And wow, Jesse didn’t even believe himself when he said that, the nervousness and confusion evident in his voice as he walked himself and Angela over to the worn out couch pushed back against one of the walls. 

“Hmmm, something tells me you’re not here to discuss past times, Jesse. What’s on your mind?” 

That was all it took to send Jesse slumping down into the couch while simultaneously shifting to lean some of his weight onto Angela, essentially using her as a pillow. 

“I’ve got it bad Angie,” he whined “I’ve got it real bad.”

“Hanzo again? I thought I told you to stop moping and try talking to him, or at least try talking to Genji about him. What happened to the smooth talking southern charmer that we all know and love?” 

Now that caused Jesse to scoff. Smooth talking his ass. In the month since the archer had joined the team all he’d ever done when Hanzo was around was stumble over his words and just generally make a fool out of himself. It was as if the word smooth had been removed from the cowboy’s vocabulary.

“Angie, the man’s as stoic as statue. Even if I did try to talk to him it’s not like I’d be able to tell what he was thinking. Anyway I didn’t come here to get lectured, I came here for advice.” 

Angela raised an eyebrow in Jesse’s direction, now fully interested in what he had to say.

“Advice?”

“Advice.”

“On what?”

“Well, he sat next to me during breakfast this morning and didn’t even say a word the entire time. It’s not like we were alone either, Genji was there too and the only time he glanced in his direction was when he was whining about his toast being burnt. I don’t think Hanzo likes me very much, and how am I supposed to wow a guy who doesn’t like me enough to make small talk over breakfast?”

Angela couldn’t help but roll her eyes at this. While she wouldn’t say it to Jesse, she knew that the archer was fond of him and that was just the way he acted with everyone. A similar conversation had taken place between Jesse and herself several times in the past and the chance that the outcome would be different from all those other times was very slim. In fact, after the last time that Jesse had found her for a good old moan, she had actually talked to Genji to confirm that her suspicions were right. Hanzo just didn’t physically show emotion very much, especially to those who he didn't know very well.

“Look Jesse, how about I make you a deal?” Now it was Jesse’s turn to raise an eyebrow in the others direction.

“What kind of deal?”

“A deal where I help you talk to Hanzo and make sure that the situation isn’t awkward so neither of you lock up and refuse to speak to each other.”

“You can do that?”

“I can do that.”

Jesse had never been let down by Angela in the past so he had no reason to believe that she couldn’t pull this off. He didn’t quite know how she’d pull it off, given the fact that the only time she’d really spoken to Hanzo was during the routine post-mission check overs, but Jesse wasn’t going to start doubting Angela now, especially when her proposal held such promise. A beaming grin took over Jesse’s face as he placed his fate in Angela’s hands, knowing that she was the right person to go to given the circumstances.

“Deal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again a huge thank you goes out to Eth (pastelgotham) for being my beta for this chapter (she also has a super cool mchanzo fic that you should check out). And a huge thank you goes out to every one of you who took the time to read the first chapter! I haven't posted fanfiction since I was fourteen and didn't expect much of a response but when I logged on the next day to find out that the first chapter had got over 100 kudos I was blown away, thank you so much!
> 
> I'm not sure how often this will be updated but I am aiming to post a chapter at least once a week and I already have the next few chapters planned out so expect to see another update in the near future.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so it's been like three weeks and I am very sorry. I know I said I wanted to update this at least weekly but the past few weeks have been a complete mess for me (both happy and sad things) and I've only recently had the time/motivation to sit down and finish this chapter. You'll be glad to hear though that now everything's settled down again I should be updating when I want to be! Once again a huge thank you to Eth (pastelgotham) for being my lovely beta.

Genji was by no means subtle. Sneaky, maybe, subtle no. The moment that Genji had started to leave Hanzo’s room, before he had tried to forcefully make him leave, Hanzo knew he was up to something. Nobody around the base was subtle, it was to be expected considering this was the only place where they were really safe (but even that was up for debate) and could let their guard down. It's not like Hanzo didn't know that Genji was scheming, hell he'd practically asked him to scheme, yet Genji seemed to show no shame or subtlety in the fact that he was clearly getting help from someone else, and that was what was driving Hanzo up the wall. He couldn't for the life of him figure out who Genji was sneaking off to scheme with. 

Across the base similar thoughts were going through Jesse’s head. Jesse knew that Angela would be talking to Genji but Jesse didn't know exactly what they'd be talking about or planning. It’s not like it mattered much though, Angela could talk to Genji all she wanted but in the end it probably wouldn’t make a difference. With a bit of effort and a masked groan, Jesse hauled himself up and stalked towards the mirror hanging on the wall. What was there for anyone else to see in him, especially someone like Hanzo? Hanzo, the guy with the perfectly tied back hair, whose clothes were never wrinkled, who rarely missed a shot and had a beautiful and intricate tattoo crawling up his left arm. Then there was Jesse, the guy with a birds nest for hair, a dusty old serape, admittedly a good shot and half of a left arm rather than a full one. Right, Hanzo’s was covered with dragons and his was covered in metal because he was a dumbass who let his guard down. Jesse knew he was judging himself too harshly, but hot dang, Hanzo was a literal walking god and he couldn’t compete with that. A heavy sigh worked its way out of his throat. He was stupid to believe that even Angela, a literal miracle worker, could help him this time, yet he couldn’t seem to let go of that sliver of hope. After all, Angela wouldn’t have gone to Genji if she didn’t think it was possible.

\----------

True to the assumptions of Hanzo and Jesse, the couch area of the base’s common room was currently empty, minus two people. It may or may not have been host to Hana and Lucio yelling at one of Hana’s games beforehand, but a stern look from the usually smiling Mercy could send anyone running for the hills.   
The two knew they had their work cut out for them. Sure, they’d played matchmaker before, back in the old days of Overwatch when what they were doing was actually legal, but never before had the two candidates been so different and stubborn in their own unique ways. Oh yeah, there was also the fact that Angela didn’t know what Genji wanted to talk to her about and that Genji didn’t know what Angela wanted to talk to him about. 

“So, I need your help with something, but I can’t exactly just say outright what it is because I don’t fancy being murdered (again, Genji snickered to himself in his head) if this info gets out with no result to come from it.” he started, keeping eye contact with Angela the entire time, who simply raised an eyebrow in response.

“You need my help with something but can’t say what. I’ve heard you say some questionable things over the years Genji, but that might just top the list.”

An irritated groan left Genji’s throat before it was quickly replaced by what Angela could only assume was an exhausted sigh.

“I know. I know it’s stupid but this is the situation I’m currently dealing with because my brother is one of the most private and closed off people I’ve ever met.”   
Now that caught Angela’s attention.

“Ah, so this is about Hanzo then?”

Genji froze, clearly realising his mistake and rushing to correct himself, only to have Angela hold a hand up to stop him.

“It’s okay, I actually needed to talk to you about Hanzo anyway.”

“Talk to me about Hanzo? What has he done this ti- oh Angela did he cause a fuss over a check up again, I’ve told him to stop doing that.”

Once again Genji was stopped by Angela raising her hand, this time accompanied by a small giggle. 

“Don’t worry Genji, he’s done nothing of the sort. He has however caught the eye of another member of the team who may have asked me to see if you could do anything about it. But first off, which way does Hanzo swing? I mean that information is kinda vital in figuring out if you can do something and it won’t narrow down who this person is by too much.”

Genji couldn’t help but laugh, who would have thought that Angela was dealing with a similar situation to the one he found himself in. He stopped to think for a minute about who Angela could be helping out. For one thing they’d have to be close enough to Angela that they’d feel that they’d be able to trust her with the information, which actually narrowed down the list quite a lot. Genji then halved the list again, figuring that Reinhardt and Ana wouldn’t be in the slightest bit interested and knowing that Fareeha didn’t exactly go for Hanzo, or any male for that matter. That left the list with one person he knew was gay and two people he didn’t know the sexuality of, those being Hana, Mei and Jesse. Hana was nineteen and Mei seemed to be interested in the new Russian recruit (who he really had to take the time to talk to, he noted), which left him with only one possible outcome.

“It’s Jesse isn’t it?”

Angela spluttered, “How did you know?!”

“Process of elimination. So, McCree likes my brother then? Gotta say I didn’t think Hanzo was his type, but then again I’m not entirely sure what Jesse’s type is.” 

“You’re a clever one, Genji. Yes, Jesse likes Hanzo and asked me to help him with his possible future romance. We both figured the best way to do that would be talking to you. But you still haven’t answered my question; does Jesse have a chance?”

“He has as much of a chance as anyone else, I don’t think Hanzo cares who he ends up with as long as they love him.” A small smirk worked its way onto Genji’s face as he continued, “That being said, I think Jesse has a bit more of a chance than anyone else, that may be the reason why I needed to talk to you today. So, Hanzo likes Jesse, Jesse likes Hanzo, what are we gonna do about it?”

The two were silent for a few moments, exchanging brief glances as their minds worked at 100 miles per hour trying to come up with some sort of plan. A sudden intake of breath from Angela had Genji snapping his head in his direction.

“Genji, I think I have the perfect plan.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji and Angela put their plan into action and Jesse is wiser than Angela gives him credit for.

It took Angela three days to set up for her perfect plan. Genji couldn’t help but wonder how much quicker she would have gotten it all sorted had she actually told him what the plan was, but instead he was given a quick excuse that doubled up as a poorly masked insult (‘Genji, this plan just  _ can’t _ be ruined, okay?’) and was told that when he was once again needed he’d be told straight away. As much as it was irritating, he really didn’t mind it that much. What he did mind however was having to deal with Hanzo pestering him about the progress (or lack off) that he’d made with his task. 

 

Genji couldn’t flat out tell Hanzo that Angela was working on a plan, it’d be way too obvious who he’d told about Hanzo’s situation and given that Angela is Jesse’s best friend it wouldn’t go down well at all. That being said, Hanzo knew that Genji was planning something, likely with the help of another member of the team, but that didn’t stop him from throwing questions at his younger brother with every opportunity he was given. Hanzo knew exactly what he was doing, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who he’d gone to; he’d heard the stories of the past Overwatch and Genji’s scheming, but that wasn’t to say that he didn’t enjoy watching Genji flounder for responses even if it  _ was _ to help him.

 

It was around two in the afternoon the following day when everything really started to take shape.

 

“Come on Hanzo, you love training. You  _ always _ used to get me to do it when we were younger, what’s with the change now?”

 

A deep sigh worked it’s way out of Hanzo’s throat as he spun to face his brother mid step, the sudden stopping almost sending Genji flying into the back of him.

 

“I do enjoy training, yes. However I much prefer to do so alone. If these past ten years haven’t changed anything, and you playing matchmaker seems to prove that they haven’t, then it’s safe to assume that you won’t give me peace when I ask for it during a training session.”

 

Puppy dog pouting instantly worked it’s way onto Genji’s face, knowing that while the new redemption-seeking version of his brother was very blunt and to the point, he’d never go out of his way to further risk hurting Genji, even if it was just his feelings rather than another physical brawl.

 

“No.”

 

Genji’s pout grew bigger.

 

“Genji.”

 

A warning.

 

“...Fine. But if you distract me too much I’m leaving.”

 

Internal celebration already underway, Genji tried to play it cool in front of his brother so as to not give the game away. Little did Hanzo know, he’d fallen right into Genji’s trap. Genji had timed his persuasions so as to get his brother to turn to face him near a corridor intersection in the residential wing of the watchpoint, an intersection placed conveniently next to Angela’s room. The resident medic was waiting on the other side of her bedroom door waiting for Hanzo’s confirmation and the sound of the Shimada’s footsteps to fade away into the distance before she flung the door open and took off down the other end of the wing.

 

Their plan had very precise timing and schedules had been mapped out in advance. Genji would convince Hanzo to go training with him, leading Hanzo towards the practice range via the cafeteria so that Genji could grab some bottles of water for him and Hanzo. The detour would add approximately six minutes onto their journey to the practice range, during which time Angela would head to the other end of the residential wing to where Jesse’s room was located and convince him to join her on the practice range, claiming that she wanted some pointers on her aiming. Never one to let down a friend, Jesse would agree to help Angela straight away, giving the pair of them five remaining minutes to get to the practice range, which was conveniently three minutes away, before the two Shimadas got there. The plan was foolproof and Jesse wouldn’t dare to question how Angela knew where to find him at that specific time knowing that the woman was more or less single handedly running the medical ward and keeping track of everyone while Ana was out on a mission.

 

Slowing down as she reached the end of the hall, Angela took a second to pause outside of Jesse’s room to level her breathing. She silently thanked modern medicine and the fact that she was in the best shape she’d ever been in order to get her breath back in a matter of seconds before she straightened her back and knocked on the door. Shuffling could be heard from inside the room along with mumbling so faint that Angela couldn’t make out what it was, but the noises were more than enough reassurance to her that the time she’d spent planning with Genji wasn’t wasted. A few more seconds passed before the door was swinging open and Angela found herself face to face with Jesse.

 

“Oh, hey Angie. Didn’t expect to see you here. You need something?”

 

“Yes actually,” Angela began, thanking her lucky stars that he already seemed to be willing to help her out, “I was hoping that you’d be able to help me with my aim. Any kind of pointers would be useful given that Talon is out to get us and I don’t know when I’ll end up separated from everyone with only my pistol as a form of defence.”

 

Angela was more than happy to see Jesse give a small nod as he moved aside to let her into the room. Not wanting to be rude, Angela obliged and stepped inside. It was then that she saw  _ why _ he’d let her inside. Sitting there on the little table that Jesse had set up was peacekeeper, clearly close to being done with a cleaning routine. They hadn’t accounted for this, their schedule was so tight that they only had two minutes to spare, possibly even one with the speed that Hanzo was known to stride around the base with. She tried not to let her panic show on her face and apparently succeeded given the beaming grin that was being thrown in her direction.

 

“Just give me a few minutes to finish putting her back together, gotta keep it clean, ya know?”

 

Angela laughed nervously but forced herself to respond in an even tone.

 

“Of course, take your time…”

 

With that Jesse sat back down to finish sorting his gun out while Angela fidgeted at the door. Four minutes seemed to take an hour to pass but at least it gave her time to think of an excuse as to why she was bringing Jesse into the same practice range that Genji and Hanzo were in.

 

The two of them set off towards the practice range at a leisurely pace, there was no need to hurry Angela figured, given that the two Shimadas were almost certainly at the practice range already. She was just thankful that Jesse hadn’t tried to make conversation with her, seemingly content to stroll alongside her while whistling out a tune. The practice range soon came into view and even from a distance Angela could spot Genji glancing back at the door to the range every few seconds through the windows, clearly wondering where Angela and Jesse were. Angela managed to catch his eye with a subtle wave, low enough that Jesse wouldn’t see it out of the corner of his eye, and the cyborg seemed to physically relax a bit. There was still a look of worry upon his face, not knowing Angela’s revised plan, but at least he was no longer tense and risking giving their plan away.

 

Thinking quickly, Genji called out to the two of them as they were walking through the door, catching not only Jesse’s attention but Hanzo’s too.

 

“Angela, Jesse! Fancy running into you two here!”

 

“Ah Genji, what a surprise! I asked Jesse to help me with my aim so I can defend myself sufficiently if I’m ever separated from everyone else in battle, I had no idea that you two would be in here, my medic pass allows me into any room without having to know codes or have a scheduled timeslot and the range is usually empty at this time so I didn’t think to check.”

 

Angela risked a glance in Hanzo’s direction to find that the older man seemed to be buying it, however a glance in Jesse’s direction didn’t quite mirror Hanzo’s emotions.

 

“Hmmm. Are we gonna do this then, Angie?”

 

“Oh, yes!” Angela tried to recover from her surprise of Jesse speaking so soon and made her way across the range, stopping conveniently next to Hanzo and readying herself to fire.

 

Right as Jesse was about to open his mouth to begin giving Angela the tips she asked for, Genji’s voice could be heard talking to Hanzo. It seemed that the two of them were genuinely practicing, leading Jesse to believe that the scheming was all on Angela’s part. That being said, Jesse knew Genji, and he knew that Angela was a terrible actress while Genji might as well have an award - there’s something about not being able to present facial expressions to people that makes you a good liar.

 

“Actually Angie…” Jesse began, “I think it might be better if we come back tonight. Peacekeeper is still settling after that cleaning and I don’t want to distract Genji and Hanzo. I’ll still help you but I just don’t think now is the best time.”

 

Angela saw Genji freeze up from where he had her back to her but otherwise say nothing. She didn’t have much time to respond before Jesse was heading towards the exit of the range, seemingly ready to go back to his room and hide out in there for a few hours until he met up with Angela again. Once Genji was sure that Jesse could no longer see him he turned to face Angela who gave a quick shrug in his direction before stalking after Jesse in an attempt to catch up to him. He hadn’t managed to get very far before Angela was able to grab his arm and pull him to a stop. Jesse turned to face her and Angela found herself at a loss for words, thankfully Jesse filled that silence for her.

 

“Why, Angela?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Why?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Jesse, I simply wanted you to train with me-”

 

“You ain’t subtle, Ang.” he cut in, turning around to face her as he spoke. “Did you really think that I wouldn’t catch on when this conveniently happens not even a week after I tell you how I feel about Hanzo?” he spoke quietly, looking down at Angela with a mix of emotions in his eyes, one that Angela could pick out from the rest however was hurt.

 

Angela opened her mouth to reply only to be cut off as Jesse raised his hand to stop her.

 

“Stop. I appreciate the thought but I’d rather do this on my own. Forcing the two of us together is going to lead to nothing but awkward conversations. I know you well enough to know when you’re scheming. You have this little nervous laugh you do when something goes slightly wrong, it’s the same laugh that I heard in my room earlier when you realised that I was cleaning peacekeeper. Thank you, but I need to do this alone.” a sad smile was shot in Angela’s direction as he turned to walk away, leaving Angela stood alone outside of the practice range. 

 

From the muffled voices that she could hear just beyond the closed doors she figured that Jesse leaving had prompted Hanzo to figure it out too, something that proved to be correct when the man in question came through the doors seconds later and walked past her down the hall. Genji followed soon after, stopping next to where Angela was stood. Had Angela been able to see Genji’s face she could guarantee that his facial expression would be portraying that of defeat right about now. 

 

Genji sighed before turning to face her, all but confirming that their plan had failed. 

  
“I guess we have some apologies to make and need to go back to the drawing board then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow okay, so it's been a while. Like, seven months a while. This fic is like my child, my first entry into the Overwatch fandom and some of the response I've had to it has been incredible, so I decided to sit down and write out a really detailed plan for what's left to come in this story. My problem was I started writing this in August and never took note of what I wanted to write in the future chapters, and if I did well that file is lost to my laptop before I had to restore it late last year. This fic is going to be a total of eight chapters, so we're halfway there now! Hopefully after this chapter the remaining chapters will be a bit longer, I wish I'd planned this fic out a bit better but at least I know better for next time. Regardless, at the time of writing this the fic has just under 300 kudos, something that I never expected this little story in my wildest dreams, so thank you all for sticking around during this gap, which by the way I am very sorry for. And to the new readers joining with this update, hello, I hope you stick around for the second half of this story and see it through to the end with me! <3
> 
> (Also this isn't beta read so please excuse any mistakes, thank you)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela pays the consequences for her mistakes and some subtle brotherly support is all it takes to get Hanzo back into a positive mindset.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I know this is a short chapter but I'm gonna clear that up quickly now. As you guys know, my plan for this fic is for it to just be a short fic, and I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get out considering it's just a short update, the rest of the chapters will be around the same length and hopefully after the next week or so I can just get the last three chapters done quickly and you can get the ending that you've been waiting for.
> 
> I'd try and get the updates out quicker (one of them is already partially written) but next week is MeiCree Week (which I'm doing all 7 days for) and I have my hands full with that, but after that I should have a nice chunk of free time to get this finished before McHanzo Week starts in June (also doing all 7 days for this)!
> 
> As always you can find me on Tumblr at likesittinspoons or on the McHanzone Discord server (http://discord.gg/ZAJhVEP).
> 
> Thank you all for sticking with me with this, and thank you so much for getting this fic to 400 kudos and 50 bookmarks, it means the absolute world to me. <3

“Jesse, I said I’m sorry-”

 

“I know, Angela. You’ve told me that seventy times already.”

 

The tension between Angela and Jesse was growing by the minute, and had been ever since Angela’s interference was discovered - a fact that everyone currently stationed at the Gibraltar watchpoint was  _ painfully _ aware of. Out of the corner of her eye, Angela spotted Fareeha quickly leaning back from where she’d been whispering into Satya’s ear, cautious about being caught gossiping by the woman of the hour, heck, probably the woman of the week. As a matter of courtesy, Angela chose not to acknowledge Fareeha’s quick cover-up; she’d already angered Jesse and didn’t need anyone else to try and fix a friendship with while one of her longest standing friendships was being held hostage by an angry cowboy.

 

Angela drew in a deep breath and slowly let it go through her nose, attempting to calm her nerves as Jesse stalked across the mess hall towards where Ana was sat, likely seeking comfort from the woman who’d been his mother figure throughout his late teens and his twenties. The looks that Ana was subtly throwing in Angela’s direction all but confirmed Angela’s suspicion that word had gotten out about her little plan, or at least that she’d gotten herself involved with personal business of Jesse’s that she had no right to be interfering with.

 

One thing however that Angela noticed was that nobody was acting any differently towards Genji, something that came as somewhat of a relief to her. Rather than standing like a statue at the end of the counter she began to navigate her way through the room, making a beeline for the small table just slightly out of earshot of Genji’s (and by default, Hanzo’s) table, yet close enough for him to notice her presence if he decided to take stock of everyone there.

 

The table was intended to seat only two people but for some reason Angela reasoned that a lack of available seating wouldn’t be a problem for her today. As she began to eat her meal, Angela’s thoughts began to run wild in her head. Hanzo must have either taken the situation a lot better than Jesse had, or Genji had been oblivious enough for Hanzo to have not noticed. Realistically, both of these options seemed unlikely to her, especially the former given Genji’s terrible acting skills. However, if the occasional look of confusion clouding Hanzo’s expression that he was trying and failing to keep hidden was anything to go by, their resident archer was clueless. Maybe not to the tension in the air, no, Hanzo was way too smart for his own good and would figure out that something was amiss very quickly. But the reason behind the tension? She honestly didn’t think she’d be able to work it out herself without any prior knowledge of her and Genji’s scheming. 

 

Angela’s train of thought came to an abrupt end as something soft collided with the side of her head. Briefly startled, she jumped slightly in her seat and whipped her head up from where her gaze had been locked onto her mountain of peas, an unintentional staring contest having just been interrupted by one Hana Song. Angela let her eyes wander down to the offending object grasped firmly in Hana’s hand, her lucky bunny plush that she always had on her before, during and after her livestreams. The poor bunny had seen better days, but Hana insisted that it had never been luckier than when the small shirt the plush sported became covered in the signatures of her friends and teammates soon after joining Overwatch. Fitting, Angela thought, that Hana’s lucky bunny had brought her luck by providing her with someone else to talk to.

 

“You okay, Mercy? You seem pretty out of it.” the teenager questioned, slowly sliding into the seat across from Angela, her own plate piled high as she too began to tuck into her food. Angela took a second to take in the girl, she wasn’t particularly close to Jesse or Hanzo, preferring to spend her free time with Lúcio and Jamison due to their similar shared interests - there was no way that the girl knew what was going on.

 

Taking Angela’s silence as a sign, Hana continued, “I know you’ve done something to upset Jesse and I’m just wondering how you’re doing.”

 

Okay, maybe she did know.

 

“I… did something stupid, Hana. Something that, as a close friend of Jesse’s, I shouldn’t have done. There’s asking for help and then there’s a line that I managed to cross.”

 

“I see, and does this have something to do with why Hanzo is moping around and is refusing to speak to anyone except Genji?” Angela startled, looking up from where she was focused on her own food to face Hana. The younger girl was smirking at her, clearly proud of her observations, “Yeah, I noticed. You don’t need to worry though as I seem to be the only person who has. Hanzo doesn’t talk to many people anyway and everyone’s focused on why Jesse is moping at the moment. That being said, it’s easy to see that there’s a connection between the two.”

 

“How so?”

 

“Well, I may have  _ accidentally _ dropped my drink next to their table, and may have heard Hanzo mumbling something along the lines of ‘he doesn’t like me, him running out only proves it’. I’m not blind, I know that Hanzo likes Jesse, he’s acting like a lovestruck teenager and that’s coming from a teenager.”

 

“I’m not surprised that Hanzo thinks that, it seems that Ana thinks the same thing with the roles swapped judging by the looks she’s giving me.” Angela grumbled with a sigh as she cast a glance over to where Ana was attempting to cheer up a glum cowboy, a feat that isn’t easily accomplished around the Overwatch headquarters.

 

“If you want my honest opinion, you need to do something about it, but that something needs to  _ not _ be direct. Try and fix what you’ve done and fix it quickly before Jesse gets himself so worked up about this that he refuses to listen to reason and tries to push you away even more so than he already is.”

 

Angela was silent as she considered Hana’s words. Hana had a point, she needed to fix what she’d done but any direct interference was likely to make everything worse than she’d already made it. That only left one thing for Angela to do, get in contact with Genji when she was sure he’d be alone and get him to plan something that would actually work, and she needed to do it fast. By this point Angela could admit to herself without hesitation that she was not meant to be a matchmaker, especially not to the extent that the younger Shimada apparently was.

 

“Thank you, Hana. I think I know what to do now, your advice helped a lot.” Angela spoke with a soft smile, once again looking up from her now almost finished lunch to face the woman in question. Hana warmly returned the smile and stood up with her empty tray in hand, turning to look at Angela one last time before she departed to her room, likely getting ready for her nightly stream.

 

“Don’t mention it, just think of it as my repayment for all those times you saved me from a serious injury on a mission”

 

Hana threw a wink over her shoulder in Angela’s direction as she walked off, the throwaway gesture being the first thing to draw a small chuckle out of Angela since the events of the day before. As Angela stood up to follow in Hana’s footsteps and vacate the mess hall, she couldn’t help but crack a small smile as she made her way through the double doors and back towards the medical wing of the base, the only place where she was guaranteed some peace and quiet, and therefore the perfect environment to work out exactly what she was going to say to Genji.

  
The distant sound of Genji talking some sense into his brother was the last thing that Angela heard as the doors swung shut behind her, and Hanzo’s soft chuckles in response were nothing but a good sign for what was to come.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise for any mistakes in this chapter! I didn't have time to get a beta read done on it, so if you see any mistakes that are bugging you please don't hesitate to leave a comment telling me!


End file.
